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A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, issued today a rare public statement on his Office’s work on China, marking two years since the release of its groundbreaking report on the grave human rights situation in the Uyghur region (Xinjiang).

Pressure is increasing on the Venezuelan authorities as human rights bodies and States in the region and beyond denounce repression and call for respect of rights. At the upcoming Human Rights Council session, the push for the respect of rights must continue with the renewal of key mandates.

On the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we recognise and celebrate the important role that Indigenous defenders play in the promotion and protection of human rights, their communities, territories and the environment.

ISHR joins calls for all violence and repression against protestors at the hands of law enforcement and armed 'colectivos' to cease and for the Maduro government to take urgent steps to ensure the right to protest.

Given the lack of transparency around the Presidential election in Venezuela, NGOs call on the international community to insist on independent verification of electoral results.

Ahead of a landmark UN summit to reinvigorate multilateral cooperation, the latest draft of the expected outcome document, the Pact for the Future, must better address key threats and challenges to human rights around the world.

In the last few weeks, dozens of lawyers, doctors, and activists have been detained, tortured, and killed around Sudan by both fighting parties, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). During this period, arbitrary arrests intensified in the country. ISHR and other NGOs reitaerate their pressing demand for justice and protection of life.

Last month, human rights defenders from around the world excelled during ISHR’s flagship training, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP). For a week and a half, participants engaged with Special Procedures, diplomats and other stakeholders, delivered statements to the Human Rights Council, met with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and more!

In São Tome and Principe, civil society knows very little about the instruments adopted by international and regional human rights protection mechanisms to protect their rights, and how these can be used in the event of a violation. A recent civil society workshop provided a first step to change this.

During the annual Panel on the adverse effects of climate change on human rights, woman human rights defender Yannia Visuetti gave a strong statement about the situation in Latin America.

At the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism called for a second International Decade for People of African Descent, exchanging with States and defenders on ways promote racial equity.